Economy, Employment Helping Residents Off Town Welfare Rolls

EAST HARTFORD — An unemployed man recently walked into the town's Social Services Department, ready to sign up for general assistance.

While he was there, he saw a posting for a painting job on a bulletin board. He ended up getting the job, and avoided having to go on welfare.

A woman who worked in the same department also found a new job. She had been on general assistance, working in the office through the town's workfare program.

They are two of a growing group of people able to get off or avoid welfare lately. The number of people on welfare has been dropping, Mayor Robert M. DeCrescenzo said.

The number of single adult welfare clients in town has gone from a high of 749 last March to 530 this month. With the exception of a slight increase of five clients between August and September, the number has decreased each of the past eight months.

``It looks like we're going to have the lowest yearly average since '91-92,'' DeCrescenzo said Tuesday.

``I see it as encouraging news because it indicates that, although there are still too many people who need benefits, the downward trend is continuing,'' DeCrescenzo said.

The numbers do not include families receiving welfare; that program is run directly by the state.

There are several explanations for the dip, DeCrescenzo said. An improving economy is one.

Another is the town's work in preparing people to find jobs and prosecuting those who are fraudulently receiving benefits.

``Our approach is, it's like you came into the tax assessor's office and held up the tax assessor's office,'' DeCrescenzo said of the tough stand against cheats.

Local case managers do a good job of keeping track of their clients and helping those who can work find jobs, he said.

The town also took advantage of a new state law by forcing those who were on welfare for nine of 12 months to find work by kicking them off welfare. Those people are not directly reflected in the numbers, however.

``That's part of why our caseload is down, but not the main reason,'' said John Choquette, social services director. He mentioned an improving economy, workfare and job-training programs as other factors. As of Tuesday, there were 92 people on workfare.

DeCrescenzo hesitated to call the numbers good news. ``When we get 80 or 100 clients on general assistance, like we did in 1986, that will be good news,'' he said.

Claudette Beaulieu, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services, said the number of welfare clients has been dipping across the state, too.

``We're not seeing huge drops in statewide caseload,'' she said. ``But we are seeing modest declines.''